Beekeeping - Part II

Your First Year with Bees

“My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste.” – Proverbs 24:13

                In order to get ready for your bees, you must first plan your apiary site. Things to consider are dependable nectar sources (bees travel approximately 12 square miles), fresh water sources, and avoiding areas that flood. When you place your hives, you should situate them so they face the morning sun. This wakes the bees up earlier in the morning and can deter hive beetles who like the darkness. You should also consider how easy it is for you to access your site and how the location might affect your neighbors.

                Purchasing your bees will require research. There are many different varieties of bees (Russian, Italian, Hybrids, etc.). Each variety has its own temperaments and pros/cons. Usually, bees are purchased as a 3 lb. package with a queen. Surprisingly, the reason why the queen is shipped in its own little box is because it is not related to the other bees. She comes with several attendant bees who feed on the queen candy and produce royal jelly for her to eat. This tiny box has an entrance/exit hole plugged with a cork and queen candy. This is sometimes fondant or another hard, sugary substance. Be sure to hang this between two frames with the hole facing skyward so the queen will be able to exit the box even if her attendant bees should die. This separation period allows her pheromones to permeate throughout the hive and for the others to have time to accept her.

                Bees can be purchased in a nuc (a mini-hive with only 3-5 frames) with a queen or in a package that you end up shaking over a regular hive. There are usually 10-12,000 bees in this small package. Queens can also be sold separately. Be sure to order your bees early because they start shipping out in mid-April here in zone 6.

Shipment Package for Bees

Courtesy of PlanterTomato.com

                After setting up the hive and installing your bees, you will need to set up a feeder until they find sources of food on their own. This can be as simple as an inverted mason jar filled with syrup (one part table sugar to one part water). Poke a few tiny holes in the lid so the syrup can dribble out. Be sure to check on this often as they can drain a quart a day sometimes. You will know when you can stop feeding because they will quit draining the jar.

Homemade bee feeder

Courtesy of GardenPlotter.com

A healthy queen will start laying within 24 hours. After 10 days, you should start to see capped brood cells. By 3 weeks time, you will see developed worker bees emerging from the brood frames. When examining your frames, remove the second frame from the outside and work in. This keeps you from smashing your bees that are hanging on the outside frame. Be sure to put them back in the same order and the same orientation.